I was absolutely gutted last night and this was made 10 times worse by Marks post laying into Ade.  Having slept on it I feel more able to comment in what is hopefully a more objective manner than last night.

First I have to say that I have 100% respect for Ade and the players who have done Welling proud this season and this overrides whatever criticisms there may be in the post by the time I finish writing it.  Last night they looked as gutted as I felt.

Lets start with Ade.  His knowledge and experience of the game I would suggest is far greater than any of our fans.  He certainly knows the players far better than we do and he started with what was in his informed opinion was the best 11 for this particular match.  Had he had a full squad to choose from I have absolutely no doubt the starting 11 would have been different but he had to cut his cloth.  Football is a game of opinions and I would have liked to have seen Sam Tucknott start and many would perhaps have liked to see Mark Goodfellow start rather than have Martin Carthy playing in a totally alien role but at the end of the day Ade made his decision. 

We started like an express train but after 20 minutes or so wed run out of coal and hadnt got the vital goal.  Basingstoke were taking a firm hold on the match and a desperate Ade started tinkering but nothing he tried paid off and the number of adjustments he made probably had a negative effect looking at it in the cold light of day.

Ade is a straightforward, honest and from the pure footballing aspect tells it how he sees it - I await his comments with some interest. 

As far as the players go it was a bad day at the office.  They looked jaded, didnt win the ball nearly enough (and when they did they couldnt keep it), and they were consistently thwarted by Basingstokes defence (Searle was virtually redundant for the last 85 minutes or so.)  We are entitled to express our views on their performance in a particular match but we also have to remember what they have achieved this season, only 2 dire matches which I have seen, and ask ourselves why the performance was so bad.

I would suggest that:

• They have had too many games in a short space of time This was their 4^th game in 9 days and Basingstokes 3^rd in 9 days. 1 game less in 9 days may not sound a lot but ask any athlete how much an average additional recovery day between games means in terms of a schedule like that.
• With such a small squad the availability of players allowed for very little in the way of options.

Those who know me and with whom I have discussions about Welling United know that I have been saying for some considerable time that we have been punching above our weight.  This in my opinion has been due to the team ethic and the mutual respect and loyalty between Ade and the players and their shared ambition.

Let us remember too that we werent the only side out on the pitch last night and this match was just as important to Basingstoke too as they fight to retain their place in the Conference South.  Credit is due to them for their performance, they had pace to burn in attack and defended solidly.  Though it is possible to question why Surey had the opportunity to, as it turned out, effectively kill the game off in the 49^th minute with the second goal it has to be said that if wed scored it people would have been waxing lyrical about it.

I agree with much of what JgFc posted but I do not feel that now is the time to be raising off the field matters.

To sum up in my opinion last night we played badly and Ade in his desperation got it wrong but the fat lady hasnt sung yet.  We need to put last night behind us and let Ade and the players know that we are 100% behind them and give them all the support we can in the next 2 games.